Thread: your experience is needed

I can't agree enough about getting it honed by an expert here.
While I'm all for learning it all, beginning by honing the razors myself really set me back.
Mostly due to not realizing my honing wasn't so bad, it was my stropping that needed work.
You really want to eliminate the question mark of honing in the equation, not add two possible reasons on top of technique should you not get good shaves.
It can be hard enough to get a good shave with a perfect blade, as it is, if you're new.

Originally Posted by Friggin Joe

I can't agree enough about getting it honed by an expert here.
While I'm all for learning it all, beginning by honing the razors myself really set me back.
Mostly due to not realizing my honing wasn't so bad, it was my stropping that needed work.
You really want to eliminate the question mark of honing in the equation, not add two possible reasons on top of technique should you not get good shaves.
It can be hard enough to get a good shave with a perfect blade, as it is, if you're new.

Yeah, me too. I got very hung up on the honing at first and then, stropping clicked. Always good to have a well honed and stropped blade for comparison with your other(s).

I agree with the above. Start with a professionally honed razor and then all you need for at least the first 20 shaves is a strop. Honing takes time and practice and you will probably be better off buying a few cheap ebay razors to practice on and make your mistakes. Keep your TI in good shape to use as your benchmark when you practice honing.

Originally Posted by AlanII

Yeah, me too. I got very hung up on the honing at first and then, stropping clicked. Always good to have a well honed and stropped blade for comparison with your other(s).

Originally Posted by Smalleyboy

I agree with the above. Start with a professionally honed razor and then all you need for at least the first 20 shaves is a strop. Honing takes time and practice and you will probably be better off buying a few cheap ebay razors to practice on and make your mistakes. Keep your TI in good shape to use as your benchmark when you practice honing.

I agree with both you gentlemen but have something important to add: sending a razor to someone else for honing is not just for newbies. I have been shaving with a straight for 28 years and I have 10 razors in my rotation, which I hone myself. Some of them shave better than others and a couple of them I really didn't like. I always wondered if it was my honing or if they just weren't good razors.

Well, when I found SRP and began to improve the various elements of my technique, it so happened that my first razor needed to be cleaned and repinned and since I don't do that kind of work, I decided to send it off to moviemaniac in Austria. He cleaned, repinned and honed it for me for a very reasonable price and when it came back I was shocked. My worst razor had been turned into one of my best. So, I sent him my second worst razor for cleaning and honing. It turns out it was my honing after all. What I hadn't taken into account was that they were of harder steel and I just wasn't equipped to deal with them. The moral of my story is you will never be so good that you can't learn something from somebody else.

Originally Posted by Chimensch

The moral of my story is you will never be so good that you can't learn something from somebody else.

I think we can probably all agree on that.